The author says: Seriously, over 35 reviews for the last chapter? I am still more than stunned, thank you all so much! And because you've been spoiling me like that, I managed to squeeze in some writing time and finish chapter 14. Which went quicker than I had anticipated, because it was almost finished already and also because all your support encouraged me tremendously!
I'm sorry if I didn't reply to each review, but I don't really have a lot of time right now! I'll get back to you as soon as I can!
Please enjoy the very last chapter for this year, it's a long one, I hope that appeases you!
You know the drill ;) Tell me what you think! I'm a bit anxious about the ending...
I don't own Naruto.
'He had no idea'
Chapter 14
Regrets collect like old friends
Here to relive your darkest moments
I can see no way, I can see no way
And all of the ghouls come out to play
And every demon wants his pound of flesh
But I like to keep some things to myself
I like to keep my issues strong
It's always darkest before the dawn
And I've been a fool and I've been blind
I can never leave the past behind
I can see no way, I can see no way
I'm always dragging that horse around
'Shake It Out' by Florence and The Machine
Naruto awoke before sunrise the next morning. Her apartment was dark and there was no sign of Itachi's presence. The Uchiha had left. Just like he always just vanished and returned whenever he found the chance to sneak away from the Akatsuki. She never knew when she would see him again... only now... she knew that the next time she would see him, it was to go after Sasuke...
As much as she was normally looking forward to Itachi's visits, the blonde suddenly wished she would never see him again. If that would mean she wouldn't have to face Sasuke. And her own fears.
Naruto switched on the lamp on her nightstand and squinted her eyes against the sudden brightness. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and glanced at the alarm clock. 5:28 am. She hadn't caught more than four hours of sleep. Nonetheless, the girl got up for her daily morning routine. She rarely slept in and used the early hours of the morning for training.
Dressed in shorts and a belly top, she closed the door behind her as she left the apartment. She started running as soon as she stepped onto the street and began her laps around the village. She reminded herself very much of Gai and Lee, but she had come to value the quiet hours of the early morning. The streets were empty except for shinobi on duty. They greeted her and followed her running form with tired eyes, wondering how the girl had the energy to run so early when all they could think of was the end of their shift.
The long ponytail swayed behind her back, brushing the naked skin of her arms and midriff with every step. She inhaled deeply, enjoying the fresh air that filled her lungs.
The villagers had become more or less used to her presence again. Still, some of them shot her hateful looks, but most of them had learned that it was better to just ignore the blonde Jinchuuriki. Her rather uncontrolled killing intent had scared most of them off. And while Naruto was a bit apprehensive of making the villagers afraid of her, she was also grateful that they left her alone for the biggest part of the day.
There were still shop-owners and even restaurants, who refused her entry. But Naruto just avoided those. Nobody had tried beating her up. Yet, she added cynically.
Eventually, her thoughts returned to what Itachi had told her yesterday night. It had not been solely about Sasuke, but also about one of her fellow Jinchuuriki. The Akatsuki had managed to capture Nii Yugito, container of the Two-Tailed Demon Cat, the Nibi. Naruto shook her head in regret while running.
Of course, she had made Tsunade send word to the other Hidden Villages with Jinchuuriki about the threat the Akatsuki posed to them. Except for Sunagakure and Gaara, all had answered that Konohagakure was overreacting. And now one of them had lost her life, because the Raikage had been too arrogant to accept help from Fire Country.
Hopefully, Kumogakure would now realize that the Akatsuki was indeed a threat. Lightning Country had another Jinchuuriki, the container of the Eight-Tails, the Hachibi. Apparently, he was the Raikage's brother. Maybe the Raikage would contact Konoha again, in order to protect his brother.
The Jinchuuriki in Kumo – she thought his name was Kirabi, but wasn't sure, Itachi had only mentioned him once; she would have to check her scrolls again – Gaara and Naruto were the only 'free' Jinchuuriki left. The Akatsuki had already managed to capture – and hence kill – the other six.
Naruto made a mental note to tell Tsunade to contact the Raikage again. She was sure that the man was more willing to cooperate now.
The blonde ran her twelfth lap around the village, taking in the soothing sight of the red sun that lazily crept over the horizon. Naruto inwardly prayed that she wouldn't run into Lee and Gai-sensei this morning. She wasn't in the mood to endure their endless shouts of youth and whatnot this morning. It left her time to think freely and nobody would question the scowl that had settled on her face once more.
She finished after twenty laps and jogged back to her apartment, looking forward to a shower. As she entered her apartment, though, her eyes fell on the coffee table. Someone had rammed a kunai into the wooden surface, attaching a note to it.
Naruto cursed Itachi for further demolishing her already shabby furniture and angrily pulled the kunai free and took the note. Blue eyes scanned the paper and a smile spread over her lips. It was the recipe for the meal they had had the night before. Pasta and tomatoes.
Since her cooking skills were still non-existent, she doubted that she would manage to prepare the meal. But Itachi knew that she was helpless in the kitchen and therefore had scribbled down every single step. Kami, Naruto even saw how he explained how to boil water. She rolled her eyes and grinned. It would probably turn out disastrous, but he had made such an effort and now she felt like she owed it to him to at least try cooking this.
But not now; now she needed a shower and then head over to ANBU headquarters. Her team mates always took the first day after a mission to relax and catch up with their families. Naruto accepted it and let them rest. But that didn't mean she couldn't train.
So she trained with the other ANBU at HQ. If Anko wasn't on a mission, the woman loved to spar with Naruto, always going all out. The blonde enjoyed training with the ANBU a lot; it was always more aggressive, more intense and more exhausting than 'normal' training.
Six hours later found a panting Naruto taking needy gulps from her water bottle. Her hair stuck to her forehead and neck. She had long discarded the metal breast plate of her ANBU uniform, leaving her in only the black undershirt. The Kyuubi's red chakra was billowing around her right thigh, healing a deep cut she had received from her opponent.
Said opponent was currently being healed by a medic-nin, one of his team mates. Naruto had broken his arm and leg with one of her more advanced Futon Jutsus.
A tall ANBU with a Cat mask approached Naruto. She had noticed him watching her spar with the other shinobi. And also the spar before with Anko. He took off his mask as he came closer and revealed dark, almond-shaped eyes; his silver forehead protector framed his face on both sides.
Naruto nodded in greeting. Here in ANBU, his code name was Tenzou; outside he was known as Yamato. He had been one of the shinobi assigned to testing her for the position of ANBU captain by Tsunade.
Tenzou often watched over her training. No-one had assigned him to it officially, but Naruto guessed that Tsunade as well as Kakashi had asked him to keep an eye on her whenever she was messing with more high-level techniques or doing all-out spars. Over the last month Naruto had often shown signs of using the Kyuubi's chakra.
Most of the times, it was unintentional. The more advanced the technique and the more chakra Naruto needed to mould, the harder it became for her to suppress the demon's energy. It started with her eyes, every time. Slitted pupils, blue changing to crimson. Next came her whisker-marks and teeth; then her claws and the last sign of the Kyuubi's influence was the manifestation of the red chakra around her body.
Whenever that would happen, Tenzou would restrain Naruto with his Mokuton Jutsu and force the Fox's power back into the seal. It left Naruto panting and weak for some moments, since it took a great amount of her own chakra, too.
So far, the manifestation of the tails had occurred six times. The second time, Tenzou had not been present and her team mates had to use a chakra suppression sealing tag on her. Naruto had provided the three boys with a good amount of the sealing tags, for that they could intervene in case she wouldn't be able to fight the Kyuubi back on her own.
"Naruto-san," Tenzou said, shaking her out of her reverie, "That was an impressive fight." She knew that he was talking about the fact that not once during the fight had she shown signs of the Kyuubi's influence.
It was like that; some days, Naruto could hear the demon whispering in her mind, all day long; then again days passed and it felt like the demon wasn't there at all.
Naruto blinked up at him, surprised about the compliment. Reflexively, her hand reached up and started rubbing her neck sheepishly. She would probably never stop doing that.
"Um, thanks, Tenzou-senpai. But it was only a spar, you know," she muttered. Saying, that it hadn't been such a feat to suppress the evil chakra today.
A heavy clap on her back made her choke on the water she was drinking.
"Ha, Tenzou," Anko's loud voice chimed in. "Told ya that girl is brilliant! She was trained by the best, after all," she added with a wink and a self-satisfied grin.
"And by 'the best' I assume you are referring to yourself, Anko-san?" Tenzou asked friendly.
Anko agreed enthusiastically and decidedly ignored Naruto's comment about how Anko had only trained her for four weeks. Tenzou threw the blonde a knowing look and then continued to listen to Anko's boasting.
Naruto rolled her eyes at her purple-haired friend. It was funny how different life was within the walls of the ANBU HQ. There was nobody, who sent nasty looks Naruto's way or resented her for being the Kyuubi's host.
It had not been like that when she had first arrived at the HQ, but slowly Naruto had managed to gain the other ninjas' respect. They saw how she pushed herself during training, saw her dedication and her strength. Naruto was currently the youngest captain in the ANBU and many of the more experienced fighters thought she was not ready for the job. After what had happened with Itachi, they had become very apprehensive about young recruits in high positions.
Some had challenged her, trying to put her back in her place. And even though Naruto didn't win against any of them in the beginning, they saw her getting up every time she was beaten; saw how she gave her very best, even in a mere spar. Soon, the others came and offered her advice, helped her with her training or just talked to her.
Hearing about her team's battle against the Akatsuki in Suna had swayed even the last of Naruto's critics. While the regular shinobi forces of Konoha had no idea about what her team was doing, rumours had spread like a wildfire within the ANBU troops. Since there was no need to deny what they had achieved, Kiba told anyone who wanted to hear about it. And a good battle story was something every ANBU just loved to hear. Kiba's boasting added to their increasingly high reputation.
With growing respect for Naruto's team, also the respect for the young Jinchuuriki grew and Naruto felt more and more comfortable at the HQ. But today her mood was subdued; the knowledge of the inevitable confrontation with Sasuke was still on her mind.
She was grateful for the distraction as Kiba walked out of the HQ building and onto the training grounds.
"Oi, taichou," he called out to her, once again managing to make the formal address for captain sound like a mocking nickname. He walked over to her and frowned down at her. "You've been here all the time?"
Naruto just shrugged in answer.
"Idiot, we've been waiting for you! You were supposed to meet us for lunch, remember?"
Naruto's blue eyes widened and it became clear to Kiba that the girl had once again completely forgotten about the world around her while training. It was not the first time. Her team mates should be used to it by now.
"Geez, Naru," Kiba sighed and grabbed her arm, pulling her into the building. He ignored her protests. "Come on, you've been here all day and you need to get ready for tonight."
At her lack of reaction and the quizzical look on her face, he knew that the blonde had forgotten about tonight as well. "Ino's party?" he reminded her dryly.
"Ah, sure," she quickly said, only then remembering. Ino had finished her time as an apprentice in the Torture and Interrogation Force and was now a Special Jounin. On that occasion, she was throwing a big party and had invited half of Konoha.
It was already late afternoon and the party would start at eight. She had approximately three hours to get ready. More than enough for Naruto. But before she had to see Tsunade.
Kiba walked her home. It was a stupid habit the guys had developed. They had become over-protective of their captain since they had witnessed the villagers' reaction towards her some months ago. So whenever they had the time, they accompanied her.
"What's wrong, taichou?" Kiba asked, glancing at the blonde from the corner of his slitted eyes.
"Nothing," was the too quick reply.
"Naruto, I can smell it on you. Something is clearly bothering you."
Stupid Kiba and his stupid nose. "They caught the Nibi Jinchuuriki." Naruto didn't need to elaborate who 'they' were. There was only one group who was after the demon containers.
Kiba nodded grimly. "Itachi?" he just asked, wanting to know where Naruto got that information from. He saw her nod next to him.
"So there's only three left now," the Inuzuka stated and immediately cursed himself, as the girl next to him visibly flinched. Of course Naruto would be worried about these news.
They arrived at Naruto's apartment and he turned to the smaller girl. He gently placed his large hand on her shoulder. "We will stop them before they get anyone else, Naru," he assured her quietly.
Naruto gazed up at him, grim and worried. She appreciated Kiba's gesture, knowing very well that the Inuzuka was usually the most inept at things like this. She felt bad for keeping the other reason for her worry from him, but she couldn't make herself say it. It would make it more real. And it was already real enough for her. Only some weeks away.
Forcing herself to grin, she muttered a lame "Thanks," and Kiba let his hand fall from her shoulder.
"You come pick me up for the party later?" Naruto asked.
Suddenly, Kiba blushed and he looked to the ground, finding great interest in his sandals. He mumbled something, but even Naruto's sensitive ears didn't catch it. Finding his sudden change in mood very disturbing – Kiba was so not the type to blush and be shy – she poked him in the chest, prompting him to repeat himself.
"I'm going with Hinata," he muttered very uncharacteristically.
Naruto frowned, confused, and not getting it at all. "So what? We can pick her up together then," she said, puzzled.
Kiba looked up again and rolled his eyes. Naruto was kind of dense when it came to things like this. "No, Naruto. I asked her to go to the party with me." He explained carefully and looked at Naruto expectantly, waiting for her to catch up.
She blinked. Frowned. Opened her mouth.
Then her eyes widened in sudden understanding. "Oooooh," she made and a cheeky grin appeared on her face. The blonde wiggled her eyebrows suggestively and Kiba barked a laugh at the sight. "So it's like a date?" she whispered excitedly.
Kiba grinned, gone was his momentary shyness. "Sure it is!" he winked. "And stop whispering. It's not a secret, ya know."
Naruto's grin only widened. She was genuinely happy for her team mate.
Kiba turned to leave. Remembering something, he looked back at her over his shoulder. "Ino said to remind you to wear something nice."
Naruto's grin fell and she frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Don't know, dude," Kiba said, walking away, "You're the girl here."
"Then stop calling me 'dude'," she muttered, irritated. Realizing Kiba was not stopping, she called after him, "Oi, dog-breath, wait!" But he was gone and Naruto left alone with her lack of fashion sense.
A second freezing shower – thanks to the still broken heating in her apartment – later, Naruto entered the Hokage's office through the open window, making Tsunade jump. The older woman cursed her gaki under her breath, but fell silent, as she saw Naruto closing the window behind her. She only did that when they needed to talk privately.
Naruto unceremoniously flopped down on the chair in front of the desk. Tsunade immediately sensed that something was wrong. Her shoulders were too tense, the scowl on her brow too deep.
"They caught the Nibi Jinchuuriki in Kumogakure," Naruto came straight to the point. Better get this over with quickly.
"When?" Tsunade simply asked, knowing very well not to test Naruto's patience when she was in a mood like this.
"Some days ago."
The Hokage suppressed the sad look that crept into her eyes. Naruto hated that look; being pitied by others. But Tsunade couldn't help but feel for the girl she called her daughter. Naruto was obviously shaken by the news of the other Jinchuuriki's death.
"So now there are only –"
"– three left. Yes, I know!" Naruto snapped harshly.
Tsunade's eyes widened at her behaviour. Naruto ran a weary hand over her closed eyes and exhaled tiredly. Tsunade got the feeling that there was something else bothering the young woman. She was a tad too aggressive for this to 'merely' be about the Nibi container. However, Tsunade's rare motherly instincts told her to better not press the subject.
Naruto gave a weak apology for talking to the older woman like that, but Tsunade just shrugged it off. It wasn't like she took any offence in it.
"Send a messenger to Kumogakure. Maybe the Raikage will listen to our warnings now," Naruto said and got an approving nod from the Hokage. She regarded the younger blonde calmly, inwardly chuckling at how Naruto was giving orders to the Hokage so easily.
She waited some more moments before speaking, in case the girl wanted to talk about what else was troubling her. But Tsunade didn't expect Naruto to address it on her own. She knew how she was; always bottling up her emotions.
Tsunade wanted to comfort the girl somehow, but as she opened her mouth to say something, Naruto got up, effectively shutting her up.
"Tell me when you hear anything from Kumo," Naruto said, walking to the window; not even waiting for confirmation.
Tsunade stared at the open window, hoping that whatever was causing Naruto's bad mood would soon solve itself.
Sadly, she had no idea that it was only going to be worse.
Five minutes to eight, a knock sounded at Naruto's front door. She recognized Neji and Shikamaru's chakra signatures and called an "It's open!" from out of her bathroom. The Hyuuga opened the door and entered. "Did Kiba send you?"
"Yes, he said you were in need of company," the brunette confirmed calmly and waited for Naruto to mouth her denial. But it never came. Neji's pale eyes narrowed slightly, sharing a look with Shikamaru. Maybe Kiba had been right about Naruto acting weird.
"Guys, do I look okay?" Naruto asked insecurely as she stepped out of the bathroom. She spread her arms and looked rather unhappy, standing in the middle of her small apartment.
Shikamaru took a quick look at her. "Troublesome."
A soft smile played on Neji's lips. "You look lovely, Naruto-san."
"Lovely?" she questioned, looking down at herself. "I don't think anyone's ever called me lovely..." she muttered, not sure whether it was good or not.
Neji silently watched the blonde girl tugging uncomfortably at her dress. It was white and light blue with short sleeves, just long enough to hide her ANBU tattoo. The neckline was nothing daring; Naruto always made sure that the star-shaped scar over her heart was covered. The bodice hugged her slender form nicely and ended in a loose skirt, falling down from her waist until mid-thigh.
The two brunettes had never seen anything like this on Naruto. Thinking back, they didn't think they had ever seen her in a dress at all during the academy days. The light blue complimented her eyes and the white made her tanned skin stand out. Her long blonde hair fell down her back in soft waves.
"Don't you like it, Naruto-san?" Neji's gentle voice asked.
Naruto looked up. "I don't know. I guess I'm just not used to wearing dresses," she admitted. "Jiraiya got this for me when we were travelling. Two years ago... I've never worn it before..."
She sighed, trying to get used to the swinging skirt. "Don't you think it's a bit short?" she blurted, staring at her male friends for an answer.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes, wondering what he had gotten himself into. Fashion was definitely not included in the genius's repertoire. The pineapple-haired Nara was wearing a dark shirt and blue pants, nothing special, but more formal than his usual shinobi garbs.
Neji was more suited to give fashion advice. Or so Shikamaru thought, since the older male was always wearing the formal robes of the Hyuuga clan. Seeing Naruto's slightly desperate face, Shikamaru took pity on her.
He stuffed his hands in his pockets and drawled lazily, "Naruto, let me remind you, that your usual attire consists of considerably less cloth on the upper part and a lot more leather on the lower part. So stop worrying about showing some leg. Troublesome woman."
Neji coughed politely; silently agreeing with the Nara. For once, Naruto looked more than a woman than a fighter. And a beautiful, womanly young woman at that.
Naruto stared at the two, mulling Shikamaru's argument over. She snorted, shrugged and then nervously scratched the back of her head.
Shikamaru smirked in amusement, as Naruto put on her dark ninja sandals. Okay, so that reduced the image of the 'woman Naruto, who looked more a woman than a fighter' a bit. But it probably couldn't be helped.
At least she didn't put on her ANBU combat boots.
"Come on, Naruto-san," the Hyuuga friendly reminded his captain, "You know how Ino is. Let's not be late."
Naruto rolled her eyes at the comment on Ino. Her fellow blonde would be furious if they were late. She had planned this whole evening for some time and was really proud that she had successfully been promoted.
As the three walked through the dark streets towards the Yamanaka residence, Naruto was very quiet. Neji's pale eyes had long taken notice of the girl's tense shoulders, her tight jaw and the scowl that had appeared on her face as soon as the fashion issues had been solved.
Naruto was still not as lively as back in her childhood, but she had opened up again. More and more during the time with her team. She was still quieter and more serious, but had regained some of her old cheekiness. She had even started pulling pranks again; with Kiba as both her partner in crime and victim. Still, it was only a mere fraction of the former liveliness that had surrounded her once.
Neji watched her and waited for her to talk. He knew that Naruto couldn't stand his pale stares for long. Eventually, she would talk. Shikamaru glanced at the girl in their midst, waiting for her patience to run out.
"Stop staring, Neji!" she eventually complained, not looking at either of them.
Shikamaru lit a cigarette, which earned him a very pointed glare from Naruto. She hated his unhealthy habit and made no secret of her disapproval. When they were on duty, she could forbid him to smoke; since she was his captain. But not now.
Both boys saw her fumbling with the hem of her dress. Some moments later, she sighed, defeated. "I guess Kiba told you about the Nibi Jinchuuriki?"
She saw both heads nod from the corner of her eyes, but she didn't say anything else. They walked in silence again.
Neji kept staring at the younger girl with his unnerving pale eyes. He saw that something else was up. She didn't even have to say anything. He just saw it. Like he always saw when something was up with her. Was she still that easy to read? Stupid Hyuugas and their creepy eyes.
Naruto felt increasingly irritated about Neji's concerned stare. Kami, she hated it when everyone was worried about her. When had her team mates gained the ability to read her moods like an open book? Kiba smelled her worries, Neji saw her distress and Shikamaru... Well, the genius just knew. It was kind of creepy, actually.
Debating with herself, Naruto's scowl deepened and she felt Neji's gaze leave her. At least he knew when to better leave her alone.
Shikamaru on the other hand, whacked her over the head with his flat hand. She rubbed her head, glaring up at her team mate. She knew what it was for. The gesture said as much as 'stop being stupid' and 'we're here for you to talk to'.
Naruto huffed and decidedly ignored both males. She was glad when they arrived some minutes later. Ino greeted them enthusiastically, too loudly and too happy for Naruto's current liking. The bleach-blonde's smile faltered a bit at Naruto's scowl.
Naruto saw Ino's reaction and immediately gave her one of her best fake smiles and hugged the taller girl back, hoping that it was enough to cover her increasingly foul mood.
Ino's squeal of "Naruto, you look lovely!" didn't help much, either. Naruto felt her eye twitch. She grinned weakly in thanks and new she had failed to fool the new Jounin, when Ino's eyes flickered to Neji and Shikamaru, silently questioning them what was wrong.
To Naruto's luck, Kiba and Hinata arrived just then and Ino was squealing about how cute they looked together. Naruto saw Hinata blush furiously and Kiba grinned wolfishly, one arm over the heiress's shoulders.
Naruto turned away from the others and walked into the huge living room that had been nicely decorated by Ino. A banner said 'Congratulations, Ino-chan!' in bright purple letters. Probably from her proud parents. Naruto felt a sharp pang of jealousy.
She was forced to take the eyes off it, when a familiar chakra signature invaded her personal space. Had it been anyone else, she'd probably have started growling by now.
A glass was shoved into her hand. "Drink up!" she was ordered. But she just stared questioningly at the purple fluid in the glass. It looked poisonous and reminded her too much of the poison used by a certain missing-nin from Sunagakure.
"It's fine, gaki, just drink it. You'll feel better afterwards."
Believing the deep, slightly gruff voice, she downed the glass. The heat of the definitely alcoholic beverage filled her stomach. "Why is it purple?" she asked, tasting the last drops on her tongue.
"Don't know. Everything's purple in here."
Naruto's eyes wandered through the room and indeed, Jiraiya was right. Purple was definitely the ruling colour in the room. It reminded her of her own orange apartment.
"I know you're in a bad mood, gaki, but tone it down a bit, will ya?" the Sannin reprimanded her, "Or people are going to be scared."
Naruto snorted mirthlessly, staring into her empty glass. So Jiraiya had picked up on her mood as well. Probably Tsunade had told him about their earlier conversation. The white-haired man ruffled her hair affectionately and Naruto actually felt an annoyed but genuine grin tug at the corner of her lips.
"Nice dress," Jiraiya grinned broadly and winked at his student. "You look lovely."
Naruto felt her eye twitch again.
Jiraiya laughed loudly at her deadpan expression. His laughter only grew as Naruto glared up at the tall man and stalked away.
She made her way to the kitchen, where she hoped to find more of the purple punch. Several people greeted her on her way through the house. Tormented by the emotional chaos inside her, Naruto put on a bright smile that was so fake, it hurt in her cheeks to keep it up.
Finally arriving in the kitchen, she successfully spotted the bowl of punch and meant to refill her glass, when Shikamaru took it from her and refilled it for her. Wordlessly, he handed it back to her and raised his own glass to her. They drank up and the brunette refilled their glasses once more.
All the while, the Nara heir kept a close eye on the younger. Being the genius he was, the brunette saw that the small blonde captain was far too upset for it to be solely about the Akatsuki's success of capturing another Jinchuuriki. He was pretty sure it had to do something with Itachi's visit. The Uchiha must've told Naruto something else; something else that affected the girl more greatly than it probably should.
Or it was about the only thing that could affect Naruto in such a way.
And Shikamaru hoped he was wrong. If this was about Sasuke... Shikamaru had hoped that it would still be some time until Naruto had to make good on her promise to Itachi.
He didn't take his eyes off of the blonde as he took the empty glass from her and replaced it with his still full one. "Troublesome woman," he muttered, when Naruto emptied it and glared up at him.
He smirked down at her, ignoring the fierce glare, knowing she wasn't really angry at him. "By the way, Naru," he drawled, teasingly, "You look just lovely tonight."
Naruto dead-panned, the eye twitching violently. A second later her glare returned with doubled force and she shoved her empty glass into Shikamaru's chest. She turned on her heels and stalked away, for the second time that evening.
Shikamaru chuckled, amused at his captain's very obvious discomfort about wearing a dress; silently thinking that the dress did look good on her. It was funny, how the girl didn't even blink an eye when she was covered in blood, but squirmed uncomfortably when she had to put on a dress.
Naruto meanwhile, tried to not let her annoyance show on her face, when yet another male shoved a glass of the purple liquid into her hand. "Drink up! You look like you need it."
"Geez, do you guys want to get me drunk?" she snapped, but obeyed nonetheless. She licked her lips and glared up at Kakashi. She was probably breaking Sasuke's personal glaring high score tonight.
The jounin only eye-smiled merrily at his student. "Ne, Naru, did anyone tell you that –"
"Shut it, Kakashi!" she snapped. Four people complimenting her on her appearance tonight was more than enough. She didn't need to hear how lovely she looked from her perverted sensei as well.
Kakashi's merry eye-smile didn't falter. Instead he added, "I like it when you are bossy like that, Naruto."
Wrong thing to say. Naruto huffed and walked away from him, running straight into Ino. Judging from the red colour on Ino's cheeks, she had probably enjoyed as much of the purple punch as Naruto. But Ino didn't have a personal demon to burn the alcohol from her system.
"Narutooo," she cooed, taking Naruto's hands in hers. Naruto was blinking dumbly, feeling the heat in her stomach crawl over her body; not pleasantly enough, though.
"Tell me, Naruto," Ino whispered, not discreetly at all, "Did Neji and Shikamaru-kun pick you up?" she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"Yes," Naruto confirmed slowly; it was kind of obvious, since they had all arrived together.
"So who of the two is your date?" Ino whispered, very eager to get the latest gossip on Naruto's love life. It would be the first gossip on her love life, to be precise. As it was non-existent.
Naruto sweat-dropped. "No, Ino, they just picked me up earlier."
"Like Kiba picked up Hinata?" Ino prompted.
"No, Ino. Not like that."
Ino frowned. "But you two would make such a cute couple," she slurred happily.
Naruto wondered briefly whether Ino was talking about Shikamaru or Neji. But since Shikamaru was with Temari, kind of, Ino must be talking about the Hyuuga. She blushed at the idea of being with Neji like that. But before she could stammer a stupid response, Shikamaru rescued her from their bleach-blonde hostess.
"Ino," he said lazily, "I heard Chouji is looking for you."
Ino's face lit up and she quickly scanned the room for her old team mate. Spotting him, she quickly rushed over to him, leaving Naruto and Shikamaru behind.
Shikamaru handed his captain yet another glass of punch, eyeing her intently. He really felt the urge to somehow comfort her, lift the weight on her shoulders. But now was not the time. She was already scowling again under his scrutinizing gaze.
Some hours and several glasses later, Naruto was listening to her perverted sensei, talking about how his newest porn book was coming along. The white-haired Sannin had one arm flung around Tsunade's shoulders, holding her close against his side.
Naruto's foul mood lifted a bit at the sight of them. She was genuinely happy for the two Sannin, that she considered family. Tsunade was blushing like a schoolgirl in Jiraiya's arms, as the tall man affectionately pecked her on the lips. The blonde Hokage swatted her lover's arms away, mumbling something that sounded like, "Not in public!".
Jiraiya threw his young student a look, reprimanding her for her dark expression. He ruffled her blonde hair again, but didn't say anything. Tsunade was slurring, telling Naruto to loosen up. Naruto rolled her blue eyes for what felt like the thousandth time that night.
She left the two older people standing and walked over to Kakashi. Soon, his comments about her dress made Naruto's mood go further downhill and she told him to shut the hell up. Her sensei immediately sobered up a bit and his single dark eye hardened.
"You're not enjoying yourself," he remarked.
Naruto snorted. She felt very sarcastic tonight. "Sure I am, see," she said, lifting her punch glass, "I'm drinking purple punch, I'm socializing, I even danced a bit." She threw him a look. "I'm totally enjoying myself."
Sadness and concern flickered through Kakashi's eye at hearing her words. Shikamaru had warned him earlier that something was bothering the girl, but he had not expected it to be this bad. He didn't like cynical Naruto one bit.
The blonde saw Kakashi's change in demeanour and knew she shouldn't have said that. It was childish and only further giving her friends a reason to be worried about her. She sighed and emptied her glass. Placing it on a nearby table, she muttered a half-hearted apology to Kakashi and told him she would go home now.
Almost to the front door, her team mates stopped her. The three brunettes just looked at their female captain and waited for her to say anything. They wanted to know why she was so overly testy today.
Naruto closed her eyes, exasperated. Thanks to Kyuubi, the alcohol in her system wasn't nearly as soothing as she would have liked; it helped nothing to ease her mind. Instead, the fact that the demon wasn't even allowing her a night of indulgence, only annoyed her further. Today was really not a good day.
"Guys," she sighed, forcing herself to sound calm, "I'm leaving. Let me through."
"Naruto, you are –" Kiba started, but was cut off.
"I'm what? In a bad mood? Irritated? Worried? Angry?" she glared up at them. "So maybe I am! Now let me leave."
The three shared a worried look.
"I'll walk you home," Shikamaru offered. And immediately realized that maybe he should have said nothing at all.
Naruto felt it was getting very hard to remain friendly. "Can you just stop babying me for at least one fucking day?" she hissed. "And stop looking at me like that!"
The blonde pushed her way through them. Too stunned at her aggressive tone, they let her go. The door slammed shut behind her.
Kiba ran a hand through his shaggy hair and exhaled slowly; confused and very concerned. Shikamaru's hand twitched, feeling the need to light a cigarette. Neji mouthed the one thought that was on their minds.
"Training tomorrow is going to be a bitch."
No-one disagreed.
Naruto lay on her shabby bed, orange sheets crumpled around her naked legs. Staring out her window at the silver moon, her mind was swirling.
She successfully ignored the voice in her head that told her she was being unfair and irrational for letting her anger get the best of her. Her team mates didn't deserve to be treated like that.
But she couldn't stand the look in their eyes. Too worried, too concerned, too... pitying. She hated to be pitied. It was almost worse than being stared at with those hateful eyes for being a monster. She wasn't weak and they treated her like a baby. It wasn't like she couldn't look after herself. She had done that for the main part of her life.
Hell, four years ago she would have given everything for someone to care about her like that. And now? She was being an ungrateful bitch only because... only because...
Because she wouldn't admit to herself that she was fucking scared of the fact that she would be facing her former best friend in only some weeks; that she was so insecure about making that promise; and the fact that the mere thought of seeing Sasuke again was creating a turmoil of emotions.
Sasuke...
Oh, how much she hated the boy.
For being able to affect her like that. With the mere thought of him.
For being able to turn her into a quivering child. At the thought of seeing him again.
For wishing she could go back in time. And undo his betrayal.
For aiming to kill her. With the chidori through her chest.
For making her chest hurt. So much.
But what scared her the most was the thought of her resolve breaking in the very first second she laid eyes on him. Despite knowing that he had meant to kill her. Despite knowing that he had betrayed her. Despite knowing that he had stolen her happiness.
Because, after all, Sasuke had been her very first friend. The first person she had looked up to.
Would it be enough to convince herself she hated him?
Or would the effort not be enough? Would it not be enough to tell herself that she was definitely not missing him? That the fact that she couldn't stop thinking of him since she had tasted her first tomato, didn't mean that maybe she wasn't hating him as much as she wanted to?
In the corner of her mind, the Kyuubi was laughing at her for her weakness.
Neji's prediction from the night before had come true. Training had been torture. It had not helped that the three young men were equally hungover, lacking sleep and that their captain was barking out one order after the other.
Kiba was complaining loudly. Shikamaru was whining under his breath. And Neji took it with as much dignity as possible.
After five hours of non-stop sparring and several bleeding cuts and dark bruises later, Kiba flopped down on the earthy ground. "Water," he panted, lying on his back with a heaving chest.
Neji took pity on the Inuzuka and tossed him his water bottle. Kiba tiredly lifted one arm and caught it out of the air. Shikamaru and Naruto ended their spar and walked over to the others.
The three looked pretty beaten and Naruto began to feel bad for pushing them like that.
She nervously played with her katana, while searching for something to say. There was only one thing to say; she had been mean and unfair last night. "Look, guys..." she started hesitantly, "I... I'm sorry about –"
A hand was firmly placed on her shoulder, interrupting her. "It's all right, idiot. We know..."
The blonde turned her head to face Shikamaru. She smiled weakly up at him.
Kiba stood up from the ground and stood in front of the blonde. "Dude, it was like you transformed into Sakura for a moment! Being bitchy doesn't suit you at all!"
Naruto cringed and guiltily looked away. A big hand grabbed her head and forced her to look up again; directly into Kiba's animal eyes. He suddenly grinned, "But you know, apology accepted!"
And before they saw it coming, the four found themselves pressed against each other, with Kiba merrily shouting, "Group hug!"
Neji's pale eyes widened in horror. Shikamaru muttered his favourite word. And Naruto enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded by her friends. Even if they were sweaty, smelling and crushing the air out of her lungs.
And maybe the world wasn't going to end just because she would see Sasuke again. Because she had the friends she needed right here.
Over the next eight weeks, though, Naruto realized that banning the thought of Sasuke from her mind was taking more and more effort with every passing day.
She was filled with a restlessness she had last felt before returning to Konoha after her time with Jiraiya; before Itachi had presented to her the opportunity to hunt the Akatsuki. It had been eight weeks – two months – since Itachi had told her that it would only be 'some more weeks' to go after Sasuke. She was turning insane with the knowledge that every day Itachi could send for her.
Every day she worked herself to the point where she could barely stand. The Kyuubi's chakra surged through her body in an increasing effort to not only heal her strained muscles, but to keep her going without the needed amount of rest and food.
Her team mates' worry increased exponentially to Naruto's growing aggressiveness. They took mission after mission, each one more brutal, more bloody and more disturbing than the one before. During the last two months, they had taken more missions than necessary. And probably healthy.
Since they weren't going after the Akatsuki for the moment, they worked regular ANBU missions. And they learned quickly that being an ANBU was more than wearing a fancy mask.
The ANBU were the special troops, the ones who did missions that regular shinobi were either unfit or just too soft for. It didn't matter what kind of mission it was; supposedly harmless surveillance, a quick but bloody assassination or tracking a target for days through enemy territory. The missions were always of the highest-level. And since ANBU Team Four was proving to be efficient and successful, they were sent out with hardly twenty-four hours of break in between.
Naruto never complained. Her blue eyes had hardened, turning colder and colder, and the boys tried their best to talk her into resting once in a while. Without them reminding her to eat and sleep, the blonde would probably have keeled over a long time ago.
It was after an especially bloody mission, that Shikamaru decided that the way things were going needed to change. Dramatically.
They had set up camp somewhere near the northern border of Fire Country. A fire was burning, chasing away the darkness of the forest. Everyone was either nursing their wounds or cleaning their blades.
A tense silence hung over the group. The mission had been a failure. They had been ordered to assassinate a group of rogue ninja that had raided several small villages along the border. There had been six of the missing-nin and four of them. Usually, not a reason for the team to worry. But something had gone completely wrong.
The moment Naruto had spotted the rogue ninja, she had recklessly charged in, risking a fight one against six. Even for Naruto, six jounin-level missing-nin were not easy to defeat. After the boys had gotten over their initial shock, they had come to her aid, but two of their targets had managed to escape. Just because Naruto had completely disregarded their plans.
Shikamaru let his eyes wander over their small camp and let them rest on Neji. The Hyuuga felt the eyes on him and looked up, catching the determined expression on Shikamaru's face. Neji nodded and nudged Kiba on the arm with the hilt of his katana, signalling him to get up.
Kiba looked confused for a moment, before he caught on and the three closed in on their captain. The blonde girl was sitting in front of the fire, unseeingly staring into the dancing flames.
Before she had the time to react, the boys were upon her. They tackled her and threw her flat on the floor. Kiba and Neji held down her arms and Shikamaru straddled her hips.
Naruto's blue eyes flashed crimson in an instant, irrational rage flickering through them, that might or might not be her own. It was hard to tell these days how much Naruto was affected by the fox.
"What the hell, guys?" she growled lowly, trying to get up, but stopped as she felt the sharp edge of a kunai pressed against the side of her neck.
She hissed like a trapped animal, her eyes blazing.
Shikamaru stared into her demonic eyes, outwardly completely unfazed by the show of uncontrolled power. The kunai in his hands against her throat felt more than wrong, but the girl needed to understand how serious they were about this. And he doubted that they would get her to listen to them otherwise. They had tried talking to Naruto for over two months and nothing had helped.
"What the hell happened today, Naruto?" Shikamaru barked. No trace of the usual drawl in his voice.
The blonde stared up at him defiantly. Shikamaru knew she wouldn't answer.
"You charged in completely recklessly! What the hell were you thinking? We had a plan and this mission only failed because of you, Naruto!"
Red orbs narrowed at the accusation.
"We let you get away with your increasingly foul mood, but we will not stand by and watch you risking your life like that!" His voice was loud now, almost shouting at her.
"We watch you getting worse every day, Naruto. You don't eat, you don't sleep, you don't smile. You hardly even talk! All you do is fight and kill!" The brunette sighed and tried to get his own anger under control.
He shut his eyes for a moment; then spoke again, "Naruto, you are our friend, we love you and we won't watch you destroy yourself any longer. Please... Naruto, tell us what the hell is wrong with you!"
Red eyes turned away from Shikamaru, avoiding the pleading look on his features. Naruto didn't know what to say. She didn't know what the hell she had been thinking today when she just attacked like that. She didn't know what she was doing half of the time lately. Her thoughts were inexorably revolving around a certain someone... And Kyuubi's taunting whispering wasn't helping, either.
Shikamaru pressed the kunai against her neck, making her look at him again. He was shouting again, exasperated with Naruto's unresponsiveness. "You've been like that ever since Itachi's last visit. Was it something he said? Naruto? What did he tell you?"
The feral eyes narrowed in anger and Shikamaru knew he had struck a nerve. "Is this.. is this about Sasuke? About the promise you made to Itachi?"
Naruto turned her head away sharply, making the sharp edge of the kunai cut her skin. She ignored the pain, welcomed it even, since it helped her to focus on something else. But Shikamaru wouldn't let her. He shook her shoulders and grabbed her chin with his free hand, forcing her to face him.
Naruto glared at him, a low growl coming from her throat.
"So this is about him..." Shikamaru confirmed his own words, "You knew that you would have to face Sasuke eventually when you made that promise, Naruto. Why is this affecting you like this?"
Naruto tried to free her chin from Shikamaru's fingers, but the Nara only tightened his grip until it hurt. "Let it go, Shikamaru," Naruto hissed warningly.
"No, I won't let this go any longer, Naruto. We've been worried sick about you all this time and we deserve to know what is happening to you!" He was shouting again and the girl under him squirmed uncomfortably.
"We know that Sasuke was your best friend at one point, but why are you so afraid of seeing him again?"
The blonde visibly flinched.
Shikamaru's eyes widened. "That's it," he whispered in sudden realization, "you're afraid of seeing him. You're... scared!"
Her blood red eyes were sparkling. Shikamaru suddenly had the feeling that maybe he had gone too far.
"What did he do to you, Naruto?" his voice was just above a whisper, unsure if he really wanted to know what had happened between the two.
The sparkling in her eyes increased and Shikamaru realized that it was caused from unshed tears. A look of concern crossed over his features and Naruto closed her eyes. Tears spilled over her face, leaving sad trails on the scarred cheeks.
Kiba shot Shikamaru a panicky look as sudden sobs shook Naruto's small body.
The kunai fell from Shikamaru's hand and he let her chin go. The others let go of her arms, shocked at the sight of their crying captain. They had never seen Naruto cry before. Naruto wasn't supposed to cry. Naruto was their ball of sunshine, full of energy and optimism. But honestly... Those days were long gone.
Shikamaru quickly got off of her. Unsure of what to do, he exchanged a questioning glance with the others. Kiba was furiously shaking his head. The poor boy was thoroughly overwhelmed with the situation. Neji's pale eyes regarded him and he mouthed soundlessly, "You caused this, you undo this!"
Shikamaru's eyes fell back on the crying blonde. What had he done? He had just meant to get a reaction out of her. Had he expected it to be a mental break-down, he would never have pushed her like that.
Hesitantly, he reached down and pulled the sobbing girl into his arms. She stiffened for a moment, but then curled up against his chest, burying her face in her hands.
He patted her back, feeling rather awkward, but that was what his mother used to do when he was crying when he had been younger. "Sh," he made, meaning to soothe her, "I'm sorry."
"No," Naruto sniffled, "I am sorry."
New sobs shook her. The boys did her best to make out her words. "I am so sorry... for worrying you and... for being such a bitch... but..."
She blubbered out incoherent words, letting out feelings that had been suppressed for probably way longer than the last two months.
Shikamaru had been right. Naruto was afraid. In fact, she was beyond afraid. The thought of confronting Sasuke and bringing him back to Konoha, was scaring her like nothing had ever before. But the boys didn't know why. They had no idea that part of her fear stemmed from the fact that Sasuke had wanted to kill her. Naruto had no idea how Itachi planned to get Sasuke back to Konoha. He hadn't even told her why she needed him for his plan to succeed.
She just couldn't shake off the question of what would happen if they failed and Sasuke would again try to kill her? Would she be able to face him in a fight again? After their fateful battle in the Valley of the End, she had hoped that she would never have to fight Sasuke to the death again. She had never wanted to fight her best friend to the death in the first place. But in the end, she hadn't been strong enough to struck him with her rasengan. While Sasuke had cold-bloodedly rammed his chidori through her chest.
She remembered the feeling of the lightning charged attack only too well.
Shikamaru held her and she was glad for the fact that he didn't press the topic again. The boys had understood that there was more to Naruto's bad mood. They just didn't know the whole truth. They had never seen the ugly scar just over her heart.
The Nara kept patting her back and stroking her hair. She almost didn't catch his words through her own snivelling. "We're here for you, Naru. He won't hurt you again." It was unnecessary to mention who 'he' was.
Naruto eventually fell asleep and Shikamaru lifted her up and placed her on her bedroll. Three heavy sighs were heard after Naruto was put to rest. The three brunettes shared a look. They had not expected their fierce captain to break down like that. They felt guilty but also relieved that Naruto had – even if involuntarily – opened up to them.
After three hours of travelling the next morning, Akamaru suddenly barked a warning. A second later, Neji raised his hand to indicate that he had seen something with his Byakugan.
The team stopped, Naruto looked up at Neji, expectantly.
"There is a clearing, approximately two miles from here, Naruto-taichou. Someone is waiting there, it seems," the Hyuuga explained what he saw.
"Can you tell who it is?" Naruto asked.
"No, not yet."
Naruto pondered the new information for a moment. Then she shrugged and waved for the others to follow. As long as they didn't know who it was, they couldn't say, if it was friend or foe.
As they came closer, Naruto got the vague feeling that she had felt that chakra before. They stopped a safe distance away from the person and waited.
Naruto felt Neji tense behind her. The Hyuuga bent forward a bit and whispered into her ear. "It's Kabuto," he said, having seen through the man's cloak with his Byakugan. How had the man found them? And how did he know that the four masked ANBU were indeed Naruto and her team?
Naruto frowned, but then her initial surprise gave way to anger. The spy was Orochimaru's right hand. He was one of the people, who had made Sasuke defect. Whatever he wanted, it couldn't be good.
An eerie chuckle broke the silence and they heard Kabuto's sly voice call out. "Good morning, Naruto-chan. It's a pleasure to see you again."
Naruto growled at him for calling her Naruto-chan. "What do you want?" she yelled back, a hand already over her shoulder, on the hilt of her katana.
"Oh, not so fast, Naruto-chan," the missing-nin chuckled, "I just want to talk to you."
"I'm not interested in whatever you have to say," Naruto declared.
"Oh, but you should," he called back. "Come closer, Naruto-chan. I won't hurt you."
"No," Shikamaru hissed at his captain. The blonde looked at him through the slits of her Weasel mask. "He's just trying to fool you. He will try to kill you the first chance he gets," the Nara insisted.
Naruto took her mask off. Shikamaru rolled his eyes, exasperated. "What are you doing, Naru? You can't trust him."
"Geez, Shika," Naruto said, "Of course, I don't trust him. But I'm curious. Why did he make the effort to find us? I want to know what he wants."
She tossed her mask and back pouch to Shikamaru. If it came to a fight, the pouch would hinder her and since Kabuto knew who she was, she didn't need to wear the mask. "You stay here. Don't interfere unless I give you a sign," she ordered and started walking towards Kabuto.
The boys watched her anxiously, not at all happy, but also knowing that Naruto was able to defend herself. They saw Kabuto pushing back his hood. His lips moved, but the two were too far away to make out any words.
"Can you hear them, Kiba?" Shikamaru asked.
The Inuzuka shook his head. "No, they are too far away and the wind is too loud. I don't know what's happening."
Their eyes never left the two figures. A few minutes passed. Then they saw Naruto take a step backwards, unsheathing her katana. She clenched her fists around the hilt.
"Something is wrong," Neji said quietly. "Her chakra is going crazy." His Byakugan could clearly discern the red of the demon's chakra running through her body, pushing aside the light blue of her own chakra.
As if on cue, all three felt an incredible increase in Naruto's power. They stared wide-eyed as three red tails formed behind her back in an instant; a furiously bubbling mass of visible energy.
"What the..." Kiba breathed, eyes darting between his captain and Kabuto. The man was still talking. Whatever he was telling Naruto was seriously pissing her off for her to go from zero to three tails like that.
They had never seen the Kyuubi's chakra manifest this quickly. Three tails meant danger. They had never seen more than three tails. And Jiraiya had told them they didn't want to see it; ever.
"We need to intervene, before she loses control," Shikamaru urged, already searching for the chakra suppression sealing tags in his pockets.
They ran towards the two figures at the end of the large clearing.
Naruto had thrown away her sword, crouching low on all fours on the ground. She was baring her foxy canines at the man in front of her, a terrifying snarl on her face, tails swinging restlessly.
"You're lying!" They heard her yell at Kabuto, her voice deeper than normal, rawer, influenced by the Kyuubi.
"I am not and you know it," Kabuto said, sounding way too pleased with himself. He spread his arms in a gesture that should probably emphasize the truth of his words. He seemed completely unfazed by the fact that Naruto was about to go berserk in Jinchuuriki mode.
Neji stopped the others with a sign of his hand. They were only a few feet away from Naruto now. He pointed at their captain and the others hissed.
The aggressive red chakra was slowly dissolving the girl's skin and clothes. Her face was a mask of pure rage and anguish, mixed with pain from what was obviously happening to her. Shreds of skin were burnt, revealing the rosy muscles and blood vessels underneath. Droplets of blood rose from her body, mixing with the evil chakra around her.
Neji charged forward, a sealing tag in his hand. But before he could get too close to Naruto, she flicked her three tails, keeping him away from her. Neji dodged a swinging tail, but was forced to stop his advance. Naruto's head snapped around, looking at her three team mates through crimson eyes.
"Run!" a voice, thick with raw power, snapped warningly.
Before they could react, Naruto's chakra exploded.
The boys were thrown over by the sheer force of the chakra blast. They skidded over the grassy ground until they finally found enough footing to stop themselves. They stood up on shaky knees, afraid of what they were going to see next.
Shikamaru lifted his head. His eyes fell on the small crater around Naruto; created only by the eruption of the Kyuubi's power.
Three pairs of eyes widened in horror, as the fourth tail manifested, all resemblances to the blonde girl completely gone.
Well... I guess this can be considered a cliff hanger! What did Kabuto tell Naruto? And what is going to happen now that she manifested four tails?
So many questions :P You will find out in the next chapter!
I know that Naruto seems a bit weak-willed maybe at the end of this chapter, concerning her fear of Sasuke, but if I imagine myself to be in her situation (which I will very obviously never be, for various reasons), I think that her being scared of the confrontation with Sasuke is only human. And she still is only human, even if my Naruto is a bit more badass and more serious than canon-Naruto. But also let me tell you, that once Naruto sees Sasuke again, things will... change... That's all I say for now ;)
This chapter was seriously the last one this year. I really have to concentrate on my exams now. I hope I find some time to write during the holidays. After Christmas, I go skiing in Austria, but I don't think I'll have internet in the hotel, so expect the next update in the second week of January!
And now, for the third time I think, I wish you all a Merry Christmas! :)
Oh and please don't be mad if I don't answer to your reviews and pms, but I probably won't find the time to check on this site until after the exam.
Till next year ;)
xXHaneliXx